monsters | riverdale

Varsity Blues

Toni enters the girls' bathroom at school to find Mickey applying a fresh coat of lipgloss. She puts her pom poms down on the sink, "I take it you're not one for school spirit?"

Without taking her eyes off the mirror, Mickey asks, "What gave me away? My lack of school colors or the fact that I'm not in any school sanctioned clubs?"

Thanks to Munroe, the Bulldogs are going to state finals and the entire school is in celebration during spirit week.

"Both."

Mickey turns her head to see how disheartened Toni seems—like the small talk is just a brave face. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's great," Toni plasters on a smile to pair with her lie. When this earns her a disbelieving look from Mickey, she sighs. "Cheryl's grieving," she discloses. "It's like her emotions are dialed up to eleven."

"That seems pretty normal."

"She's burying herself in the Vixens, but she's extra..." Toni pauses to search for the appropriate adjective.

Mickey helps her, "Bitchy?" Then she says, "It seems like Cheryl is grieving in her way. Having something to focus on isn't a bad thing. I'm sure she'll be fine."

✿

"Jug," FP says his name at the dinner table. "You've been playing with your broccoli all night, boy." Tonight, the Jones-Cooper family is having dinner together with Mickey as their guest.

Mickey glances at her boyfriend and his plate. Then she grins at FP, "He's probably too nervous to eat. He has an interview with Yale."

FP's fork clatters against his plate when he drops it. Now his grin matches Mickey's as pride bubbles inside of him. "Yale's interested in you? Wow. My boy!" he praises.

"I don't want to make it a big deal," Jughead mutters. He looks at Betty, feeling very awkward in this moment. A part of him wishes Mickey never opened her mouth about Yale. "I hope that's okay, Betty."

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be? Because I got rejected?" Betty shrugs her shoulders and takes a bite of her roast. In her mind, keeping her mouth full ends that conversation.

Instead, Jughead continues. "Well yeah, kind of."

Betty can feel her cheeks warm up as all of their eyes move to her. She barely chews her food enough before swallowing. "Well, I would never expect you to turn down an opportunity like that. That's life-changing."

Mickey squeezes Jughead's upper thigh under the table, beaming at him. "So you're obviously gonna go and ace that interview."

Betty takes it in her hands to change the topic from Yale completely. "Meanwhile, I'll be working on my article for Mr. Honey,"

"Yeah, how's that going?"

"It's a puff piece," Betty waves a hand. "Nothing real."

Jughead inquires, "Have you thought about interviewing the opposing team? You know, Bret's team captain."

"Yeah, I know."

Mickey's nose scrunches up. "He's also the guy who attacked us in a bunny mask. You really want think Betty should interview that jerk?"

"It could mean drama for your piece," Jughead encourages Betty.

Alice questions, "What's this about a bunny mask?"

✿

Mickey steps out of the classroom and into the hallway. She looks over her shoulder to make sure the door has closed fully before facing her father. "Daddy, why are you pulling me out of class?"